`Isolated' Allen Sees Racial Rift

Councilman-elect Takes Oath Today

NEWPORT NEWS — The night Charles C. Allen won a seat on the Newport News City Council, five of the returning council members showed up at his victory celebration.

That goodwill gesture seemed to mark an easing of racial tensions that had festered since an all-white council took office two years ago. As Mayor Barry DuVal had promised during his campaign, the future perhaps did look bright for Newport News.

But less than two months later, as Allen prepares to be sworn in this morning as the council's only black member, the wounds have been reopened.

In the last week, four developments have been perceived as slights by the black community, according to Allen and others:

* The council replaced a black School Board member who was ineligible for re-appointment with a conservative, white Republican.

* The council disclosed that it wants to build an East End high school on the waterfront, instead of at a more central Briarfield Road site favored by black leaders.

* The city shut down the 16th Street Bridge and may not reopen it because of safety concerns. Allen called 16th Street a ``main thoroughfare'' in the predominantly black East End.

* It was disclosed that Mayor Barry DuVal received a note from the chairwoman of the Newport News Historical Committee containing a remark interpreted as racist. DuVal did not dispute the remark at the time, although he has now condemned it.

Incumbent council members say none of their actions had negative racial connotations.

But Allen, who ran a low-key campaign in which he steered clear of racial themes, sees things differently.

``From the way it looks, I'm isolated on the council,'' he said by phone Tuesday from Gary, Ind., where he had traveled on business.

``It's as though we're in a post-Reconstruction period,'' Allen said, referring to black political gains after the Civil War that were wiped out by the backlash against Reconstruction.

Allen, a former city planner who edged out Vice Mayor William Fitzgerald for the third seat in the May 5 election, acknowledges that he might not have won without quiet support from DuVal and councilmen Joe S. Frank and Marty Williams.

``I didn't expect miracles, I expected to have to fight for things,'' said Allen. But he said he didn't expect the ``back-handedness'' he has seen in the last week.

He's particularly upset about the council's failure to appoint a black person to succeed School Board Chairman McKinley Price. They reappointed two white board members and appointed former board member and staunch Republican John J. Gill.

Allen had lobbied council members on behalf of Thaddeus B. Holloman, a black banker.

``There are any number of reasons to make an appointment, and the color of a person's skin is not a reason to exclude anybody, and it's not a reason to include anybody,'' said Councilman Terrence Martin, defending the council's appointment of Gill.

Allen differed sharply. Asked if he believes in quotas for city boards, Allen said, ``Hell yeah! If that's what it takes to get representation on boards and commissions.'' He added, ``I believe in qualifications too.''

Allen said Holloman was well qualified for a School Board seat. And referring to statements that the council wanted to appoint fiscal conservatives to the board, Allen said: ``Thad's a fiscal conservative. He's a banker. He's probably closer to their fiscal conservatism than most people.''

Allen was also upset about the closing of the 16th Street bridge. ``Next thing you know, they'll say the street's been closed so there's no need to reopen it,'' Allen said.

But council members say they had no choice about closing the bridge, in light of warnings from Engineering Director Mostafa Sabbah that it was in danger of caving in. The council plans to gauge public opinion before deciding whether to replace the bridge, repair it or remove it.

Council members also defend the decision to rank a waterfront site now occupied by Chase Packaging Corp. as the top choice for an East End high school.

They contend that black leaders have been too quick to criticize the proposal.

Councilman Martin Williams said he believes that once Allen joins the council and is fully informed, he will ``quickly dismiss'' the idea that there were racial motives behind the decision to close the bridge or in choosing the school site. ``You just can't inject race into it,'' he said.

And Williams insisted that Allen will have a say in council deliberations. ``We're going to be a lot better council with him on board than with him as a council-elect,'' Williams said. ``He'll be a part of the process. When he gets on, he'll be enlightened and so will we.''